Murdered dancehall artiste's family: He did not live the life he sang about

RELATIVES of a murdered local dancehall artiste, Keenan “Craigman” Craig, wants to separate his lyrical content from his death.

Police said Craig, 31 of Pregnancy Lane La Puerta, Diego Martin was killed at St Paul Street, Laventille on Saturday night. Police reported that at about 9.15 pm a gunman approached Craig and shot him in the head and chest.

His relatives, in a telephone interview with Newsday said Craig went to purchase food from one of his favourite spots, when he was killed.

“He was that type of person to go anywhere and make a friend. He always saw the good in others so he would go anywhere and make a friend” relatives said.

The father of one was a project manager who was part of the Trinibad genre. Trinibad is local dancehall with many of the songs about gun violence.

Craig was the star in a short local film called Crossroads which spoke of a drug dealer betrayed by a friend and gunned down. His relatives said his killing was not a case of life imitating art.

Wanting to clear the air, the relatives said: “The song and art form had nothing to do with his death. It is really unfortunate that happened. A lot of people want to express themselves in this art form, what we don’t want is for people to link his music to how he was killed.”

Craig is the third Trinibad artiste killed this year, with one being killed by police.

On September 26, Jahiem “Chucky Blanco” Joseph 18 was shot dead by police after he allegedly pulled a gun on them.

On March 31 Brad “Bradbadlikedat” Bailey, of Maraj Trace, Santa Cruz was shot dead at Blackford Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz.

Last year Kyle “Rebel Sixx” Roberts was shot dead during a home invasion at his Viceroy Crescent, Bon Air Gardens home.

One relative lamented that if the fraternity wanted to be taken seriously, they can’t live the lives they sing about.

“Hash it out in music, not in violence. He was not the type to express that physical aspect (of his songs)” the man said, adding that Craig was loved by community.

Craig was asked to move out of the La Horquetta community by relatives but his free spirited ways made him stay while everyone else left.

In an unrelated killing, the family of La Horquetta resident , Kevon Prescott, said he was dedicated father.

Speaking with Newsday at the Forensic Science Centre, St James on Monday, a female relative of Prescott said up to the day he was killed, Prescott was planning to secure $500 to pay for additional classes for his eight-year-old daughter.

“After he had his daughter his whole life was about her. If you look at his Facebook posts, everything was about his daughter.”

She added that it was difficult for Prescott’s mother and appealed for less violence, saying that killings seemed to be happening more frequently than in the past.

Police reported that Prescott, 35, of Petra Crescent, La Horquetta, at about 12.58 am Sunday morning, someone called out to Prescott’s brother and when he answered, he was killed. No motive was given for the killing.

The two killings were among seven murders that took place between Friday night and Sunday night.